SANTA MONICA—An $8.2 million project will commence for construction of the Santa Monica Pier and will take 12 months to complete. The project was approved with a unanimous vote on January 22 by the City Council. The public works department is working with the contractor in order to designate a start date and schedule for the impending construction.

"There will be a point of time where the entire pier deck has gone away," Public Works Director Martin Pastucha told the City Council last week. "We’re looking at trying to expedite construction of this project as quickly as possible."

Photo courtesy of the city of Santa Monica.

The "Pier Replacement Project" will include demolishing and rebuilding 360-foot by 36-foot wooden section of the pier which is a total of 12,960 square feet. The replacement will be built of concrete and timber stringers.

"Constructed in the 1920s, this section of the Pier consists of timber construction and is nearing the end of its useful life," stated Patucha in a report to the City Council. "Structural analysis has shown that this section of the Pier has a limited capacity to support emergency and commercial delivery vehicles."

The council approved a contracted with California-based Meek Shea, Joint Venture, to work on the pier. If the construction goes over the deadline of 240 days, the contract states that the contractor will face financial penalties of $6,000 for each additional day.

Adjustments will be made to the construction area in order to still allow visitors, especially during the summer when there are a high frequency of visitors. In addition, advance notification on construction areas will be provided to customers and no work would be done on weekends and holidays.

Construction is expected to start as early as March and will be completed in early 2014.